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A little update for those that are curious about hardiness of this palm . The summer and fall have not been super hot but we have had several warm days tipping into the 90f range and a bit beyond . I am fairly confident this will survive my winter as I don’t get frost (or haven’t in 28 years here) . It finally opened its first frond and the coloring is just green , unlike its New Caledonia relatives . I think it will be a fairly fast growing palm once established. Harry I think for inland planting , a semi shady location will work best for my new palm. I have only had it about 4 months.It is enjoying the shade of a mature Syagrus R. Harry

The first picture is the female flower. And the last two are male flowers. And the last pictures are collecting the male pollen and then pollinating the female flowers. It’s rather easy if you have a supply of pollen, daily I go around collecting male pollen if it’s ready, and hand pollinating the females. The pollen is stored in the refrigerator each day after doing the Chamaedorea rounds. After the adscendens the Metallica plants are ready to start to do the rounds it’s fun, easy and it works for better seed production.

A few plantings done in winter, no frost on my property so why not plant them out, all had survived 2 winters in the greenhouse well. A few in there I knew would breeze through winter and a few that I was zone pushing on. Of all the palms I planted out over winter i didnt loose any to the cold. Polyandrococus caudescens Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana pritchardia martiidypdis baby red stem Chambeyronia houalouensis Socratea rostrata ptychosperma waitianum dypsis lantzeana

Cocothrinax eckmanii doing well, 25 years old with no attention at all just left to its own.

Pritchardia pacifica opening a new frond

Just confirmed with Dr. Rossi that there is Free Admission with a CFPACS Shirt. If you don't have one, let me know and I can come to the front and get you when you arrive. Mentions for some of our local members and frequent meeting attendees: @Lou-StAugFL @Scott W @edbrown_III @ChristianStAug @Kekoanui @howfam @Jblume @Maddox Gardening-youtube @Almisa @CodyM @RiverCityRichard @MikeB @MOlivera @Reeverse @Bigfish @tank @chuckg @Fishinsteeg234 @Keybmp @Midnight Gardener @Satakentian The meeting that started it all: Fall 2018 CFPACS + FCPCS Meeting The Garden of Dr. John Rossi The Palmateer General Discussion: SJBGNP - Hastings, FL

Just about to open . This Chambeyronia Macrocarpa will be in full display in a few days . Harry

You know, sometimes a dioecious palm sets some viable seed without a male anywhere around. I’ve seen it with Bismarckia and Trachycarpus. I would still try germinating those seed and if any sink in water there’s a good chance it may still come up. You just may not get a great germination percentage but you have tons there. It’s worth a try.

Another fix of some plants, no therapy needed for this ocd obsession. Just more plants for the garden. plants always arrive as if just picked up from the nursery. Adira legslis a small Brazilian tree, Pinanga sarawakensis, Dypsis lantzeana, anthurium claudiae and a Zamia angustifolia. Some for the collection. Quality packaging as usual.

A few more seedlings that need potting up. Some tricky Livistona alfredii, see how good a grower iam with this batch, the last batch the rats got. Some physokentia dennisii a gift from a local grower. A few Howea bellmooreana from a door knock, and a couple of the standard joeys. The Livistona will be a test even after potting them up i didnt even water them in. The mix was just moist enough I knew to leave the perlite out in the rain. Time will tell with this lot some easy growers and probably one of the hardest Australian palms to grow. Livistona alfredii physokentia dennisii Howea bellmooreana Johannesteijsmannia altifrons

Fall Update #4 - Chrysalidocarpus Corner The map shows the locations of the bed: The View From the Border: This is the view you get from the pathway to the neighboring property. Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus X 2: They tend to get some rachis blight, but they are coming along pretty well. Chrysalidocarpus pembanus X 2: A pair of Chrysalidocarpus pembanus have taken their rightful spot after a mislabeled Allagoptera arenaria was moved. In the background, you can see a very young Chrysalidocarpus plumosus. Chrysalidocarpus leptocheilos X 3: The Bambusa oldhamii has the first one surrounded, but it seems to be OK. The middle photo is of one that was adopted from @RiverCityRichard and placed in the ground where the pot is currently located. I took it out of the ground because it has been declining. Hopefully it will recover. The last photo is one I got at the 2023 Plantae-palooza Sale. Chrysalidocarpus cabadae: This is the most sensitive to cold out of the bunch, but it looks fantastic when the temperature stays up. Chrysalidocarpus lanceolatus: Up to three trunks at this point - keep going. Chrysalidocarpus madagascariensis 'Mahajanga': Another adopted palm. The adult trunks seem to struggle, while the young offsets are doing alright. Chrysalidocarpus decaryi: These seem to grow really well here. There are more on the other side of the bed growing in a pile of broken concrete. All of mine are seed-grown from local specimens planted before 2007. Chrysalidocarpus lutescens: Another palm in this genus that does well with little effort. There is another over on the other side of the property. All of mine are seed-grown from local specimens planted before 2007. Chrysalidocarpus decipiens: This is the star of the show this year, due to their reputation for being difficult in Florida. A gift from @Fishinsteeg234 at the CFPACS 2025 Summer Meeting in June, it went straight in the ground and hasn't been set back by intense heat. BONUS - The First Fruits: Dwarf Cavendish bananas and Choquette Avocados keep the grocery bills in check.

The Encephalartos cupidus is now multi headed and adjacent plants have filled in.

Next up, the Chrysalidocarpus ambositrae in my back yard. A few things overhang my BBQ these days. The bbq is obscured from this angle by the Encephalartos nubimontanus, as is the trunk of the ambositrae.

I came across this old thread below another thread I responded to as a similar topic. I thought it would be interesting to juxtapose the old photos shortly after planting with updated photos from a similar angle. First the Chrysalidocarpus prestonianus which had its name updated in the intervening years. I didn't remember it was in a 20 gallon pot and have told people it was in a 15 when I planted it.

For a complete collection of photos with IDs, please click here Here are some photos I've taken over the last few days in San Diego, CA! Borassus madagascariensis Jubaea chilensis Chambeyronia hookeri and Ptychococcus lepidotus Coccothrinax macroglossa Dictyosperma album Oraniopsis appendiculata Ptychosperma elegans Syagrus amara Caryota gigas

Hi palm lovers alike, I have 2 of these beautiful palms but can’t remember what they are. Been in ground for 20 ish years, Queensland, Australia. Black stems, spineless, glossy smooth large leaves. We have had an extremely dry season and it’s struggling. Normally glossier Any identification tips would be appreciated 🌿❤️

🦜

The Chambey opened! Seems faster these days . From spear to open 2 days max. A bit of red leaf showing . Never gets old , to me. Harry ‘In full sun the red doesn’t seem to last as long . I get maybe 3-4 days . In contrast , this much younger palm took 3-4 weeks to fully open . Cyphophoenix Nucele. This is the first frond since planting it earlier this year. So far a very hardy palm , I’m not too worried about winter with this one. Harry

I thought things over the past couple days and decided to start with the following: 1. Insecticidal soap for the spear 2. A multi-gallon drench of Merit imidacloprid 75% powder to attack the problem systemically. The stuff in the blue Bayer plastic bottle is only 12% imidacloprid diluted with water - expensive and wasteful.

They spot in winter here too, mostly on those planted near the houses in heavy clay foundation soil. Might have to do with wet cool roots. There are foxtails here that look very nice, a s long as they are planted way from house slabs by at least 15'. Landscapers planted foxtails up near the slab on my property, they looked unhappy and when the cold hit they went bad, mold spot everywhere. Foxtails do seem to be more susceptible to mold spotting and micro nutrient deficiencies here in that heavy soil. Royals, no problem they just need water.

To pollinate, gentlemen. a blessing of cultivation

They don’t look like kerriodoxa seeds to me.

Hi Jodie. Yes, you will need a male and a female to produce viable seed. If you post a photo of your other palm we’ll be able to tell if it’s male, the inflorescences are quite distinctive.

Kerriodoxa elegans

The ideal that plants want would be 75%+ RH and temps between 27-35ºC (80-95ºF). I know it's difficult for a lot people to achieve (or even want to achieve) inside their homes. But that is the golden zone in which plant growth will go crazy. My home is under such conditions -- it happens that I am a tropical species myself, can't stand low humidity nor temps below 80F -- and I have Philodendra growing aerial roots more than they grow roots inside the pots. I don't even have to root my cuttings if I want to propagate, I just chop them, plant them immediately and they grow on as if nothing happened. If you have less RH than that then you might wanna bag the cuttings you're trying to root. You can still keep them in water, just bag the whole glass with your cuttings and that will help with less than ideal RH. Below is an image of one of my Philodendron erubescens 'Red Emerald' plants. It's not the wildest I have in terms of aerial root growth, but I have all my old images on another Mac and it's difficult to get them to the Mac I use for online browsing. So, currently this is one of the examples I can show. Lots of long aerial roots growing out all over the place. This what high humidity and warm temps does to these plants.

In SoCal, royals seem able to reach their full potential, while foxtails do not. There are plenty of decent foxtails around, but they seem to require more year-round warmth to reach the proportions that I assume they reach in habitat. Certainly the Hawaiian specimens get really big and the crowns are just magnificent. I like the ones I’m growing, but they spot every winter; the royals just cruise through winter without much complaint.

Brett I am surprised your Lepidozamia peroffskyana is so slow. Maybe too much drainage on your hillside is slowing it down. The one here in Leucadia is getting large. It often flushes and cones every season although I am still waiting for a flush in 2025 after it coned.

Mine did the same. For now this one emerges from under two healthy retained leaves, so it should be ok without further assistance for a bit. The first inflorescence dropped immediately after the leaf it emerged from dropped.

The length of cold and the type of cold matter. Also young plants are not as cold hardy as established palms. A radiational event the typical royal bud is much higher off the ground, so it will see a warmer temp. An advective event the height gets you no warmth. On the length of cold a larger mass cools slower for a quick dip in temps. How many hours below freezing will determine the temperature of the bud which determines survival. I had 3 royals and 2 foxtails die in Dec 2010 at 28F in a radiative event, all were small. Larger royals and foxtails were damaged but pulled through. Id give the edge to foxtails on leaf tenderness to cold but that is not cold hardiness. Cold hardiness is how cold it can become without death of the palm. Foxtails also do poorly with wet soil in the cold, that doesnt seem to be a royal problem as they don't mind wet feet in the cold. We have lots of big royals near me, and we also have some 25 foot or taller foxtails. Because the coldest events here are radiative, the royals get an edge if they can get some height on the bud before a 28 degree cold event. More noticeable is how fast they recover from leaf damage, the royals are notably faster. Foxtails took an extra year to recover from the 28 degree cold event.

It is 10A hands down, while my climate is between 10A and 9B. Actually it is nominally 10A but plants do not care about average temp min every decade, because they get killed by absolute min every 20 or thirty years, unless climate has changed meanwhile.

October 15, 2025 We got a good rain last night. The newest frond opened right up just like it does if it was fertilized.

A very important thing nobody has mentioned is its tolerance to wet freezes. Mature trunks can tolerate a dry -5C with almost no problem, but a wet -5C will kill them.

It has been confirmed that CFPACS will have a booth at this event. Please stop by and enjoy the celebration after two years in operation. In years past, it was standard practice that CFPACS members get in free of charge if they wear their shirt. We can confirm and update this post, either way. Our West VP is the start of the show at 9:30AM for the fertilizer talk. If you're a member planning on hanging out for a while, bring a chair and hang out at our booth if your legs get tired.

Yes, I am waiting for the inflo to open to finalize anything. I can definitely see why you say the leaf form has the look of Aloe thraskii. It is probably a bit stunted in speed of growth after being in a pot all these years too. All my large species Aloes and Aloidendron in the ground have been much faster than this plant. When my Aloe african had multiple heads and toppled I saved one of the heads and potted it. That plant has been much slower in a pot than the main stalk in the ground that I lost even after allowing for time for it to root for a couple of years. Someone else mentioned these want room to root and I agree.

Just put some ‘Black Stem’ into a baggie. Thanks Len for the 33 seeds when I ordered 25 😃 My first attempt at germination so wish me luck. BTW does anyone use Physan 20 as a fungicide and if so, what has been your experience? I just followed label directions, 10 minute soak in a fairly weak solution.

Oh, so it can have brown at the base of the petiole and still be a pure filifera? That’s awesome news for my store-bought potentially pure filifera!

A rather awful lack of sun so far this month with the stuck W to NW pattern than never seems to end. The only upside has it has kept the nighttime temperatures well up meaning above average overall. Damaging flooding occurred only 80km or so away last week and that day sure was wet. Damaging winds today for parts, the models look even worse for Thursday. Hope they are overestimating.

Coccothrinax proctorii and Coccothrinax camagueyana at the San Diego Zoo.

Copernicia berteroana, Coccothrinax readii, Pritchardia minor and Ravenea julietiae at the San Diego Zoo. Photos taken September 2, 2025.

Some Ptychosperma macarthurii at the San Diego Zoo. The ones pictured in the lower section have been there since at least 2000.

Here’s not a very clear pic of Ptychosperma elegans behind a huge Ficus dammaerops. There’s used to be two, the larger one died when it was moved out when the new bus terminal was made about 17 or 18 years ago. The larger specimen was a very impressive large tree.

The one labeled Ptychosperma elegans is actually Veitchia soledad, which I believe is V. arecina. There’s a metal tag at the base of the trunk which has been there for at least 20 years.

I started planting tiny Rhopalostylis seedlings (bauri and sapida) many years ago. Was worth the wait. Here are some of them.

I have a lot of lepidozamia peroffskyana in my garden and two hopei, they like dappled light to deep shade. They will tolerate sun but need wet conditions. Peroffskyana are native to my area and are a sight to see in habitat. Both will take temperatures as low as 2 degrees Celsius.

Tri Bear Dypsis hybrid

Rhopie sapida

It's 50% off time...let's gooooo!!

Chambeyronia macrocarpa var flavopicta showing off again.

I bought a small Sabal minor about 20+ years ago. Planted it out in the full sun and watered it for a few years. Has been living on rain water, about 30 inches a year on average for at least the past 1 6 years. It drops seeds but it's to dry for any to sprout.